Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Black and White Banana Loafies -- Tuesdays with Dorie


The recipe of the week was Black and White Banana Loaf, chosen by Ashlee of A Year In The Kitchen . I was planning to use my 8 by 4 loaf pan for Dorie's lucious Banana Loaf but at the last minute I decided not to and went foraging through the attic for my mini loaf pan. I haven't used it in a couple of years even though I love the little baby loaves it produces, and thought my kids would really enjoy the little loafies, and they sure did! I will have to use this pan more often :) My changes to the recipe were to use two bananas, replace the milk with buttermilk, and use 3.5 ounces of chocolate. I also used 1 tsp rum extract instead of rum. Why? Because I had some to use up on my lazy susan of extracts and flavorings, and I did not have rum.

We are frequent banana bread consumers in this household, I almost always buy two bunches of bananas at a time, and hope that a couple don't get eaten so we can whip up some banana bread. My husband loves banana bread, just banana though, no chocolate, no nuts, nothing fun. I love it with just about anything and everything, I think my favorite banana bread ever was a "tropical" banana bread which had pineapple, coconut, macadamia nuts, and chopped up maraschino cherries along with the yummy nanas (or ninas, as my children used to call them). Yum, yum!

This recipe came together easily, I used buttermilk instead of milk because we had some in the fridge to use up and I think buttermilk makes just about every baked good taste better than just using milk. Banana bread is no exception, I love the ultra moistness it gives with just a little tang.

As I was reading the TWD website post on this recipe I noticed a few people had trouble with a crispy exterior and an underdone almost gummy middle, after they baked the full time in a loaf pan. For me, using the mini loaf pan, I had to kind of guess and check with the timing. They tested done, looked done, and were pretty much done but I did have a little almost underdone feeling in the middle of my little loafies. At first I thought I must have messed up with the baking time since I didn't have anything to really go by, but when I read others had this issue I thought that maybe it had something to do with the recipe? I don't know honestly, but you know, I actually like my middle a little soft and gooey like that, is that so wrong? Now I'm not talking "underdone" I'm talking so so so moist that it fakes you into thinking for a second it's underdone, and those who did not actually bake these might think they are underdone, but they are really just super moist. Yeah, I like that :) While this is considered a recipe flaw to some, I actually like it, and in this recipe, in addition to my guessing on baking times my supermoist middles could have also been caused by the fact that I used buttermilk instead of milk, used half an ounce more chocolate, and also used half an extra banana. So I'm not going to fault Dorie's recipe one bit on my end, and even if I had stuck to the recipe 110% and still had the supermoist middles, I would have LOVED them hehehe.
Underdone? Nah, just super moist, and yeah, I did test them with my OXO cake tester, of course. And I know that sounds like the most unnecessary thing to buy but I had been using thin bamboo skewers as cake testers and tossing them so really, buying the OXO cake tester was good for the environment. I try to help out when I can.

This recipe is a for sure 'make again' for us. The kiddos loved them! I might play around with the chocolate type, try to add an element of peanut butter for a "triple" flavored loaf (or baby loafies), and I will leave out the rum because it just didn't do anything for me in this recipe, and I do like rum flavor even though I don't drink it a lot, but it just isn't working for me flavor wise with this, maybe it is in there to "sophisticate" the homey banana loaf? I don't know, but in our house, nina bread needs no sophistication, just a quick spread of butter, and a tall glass of milk :)

19 comments:

CB said...

I love the mini loaves! Great job!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought

PheMom said...

Very pretty darling little loaves- great job!

Deb in Hawaii said...

Super-moist works for me! They look great, I love the little minis.

Pamela said...

I love that little loaf pan! I think I might have to add one to my kitchen stash. And the buttermilk was a good idea, I need to remember that one for next time.

Kayte said...

Great job...they look really wonderful. Thanks for the idea of the tropical flavored banana bread also...that sounds so good and I will be trying that very soon. Your marbling is just beautiful.

Sihan said...

i love the mini loaves too! Supermoist for me just irks me off a little though. It a shame.

Flourchild said...

I love your mini loaf pans, how cool! I've never seen them before, I have seen the individual pans but not one long one. Your MOIST bread turned out so good! Im with you on the moistness of the middle, nothing could be better.=) I love the sound of your tropical banana bread too. You will have to share that recipe.

Prudy said...

Those little loaves are adorable and your marbling looks great. I agree about buttermilk-it makes the best crumb and it's so delicious.

Nancy/n.o.e said...

The minis are so cute!

Nancy
The Dogs Eat the Crumbs

MacDuff said...

These are awesome! And I'm totally going to take your idea for the peanut butter - that would be really good.

Amy of Sing For Your Supper said...

Mmm, I love your mini "loafies" - so cute! I'm glad your kids liked these...my nephew is coming over today and this cake will be perfect for him!! Your marbling looks wonderful too!!

-Amy
Sing For Your Supper

Jayne said...

Your mini "nina loafies" are adorable!

chocolatechic said...

Looks wonderful.

Eleganza Strings/ The DeLadurantey Family said...

Looks really good! Cute little loaves:)

Teanna DiMicco said...

I think you should share all of your gorgeous mini loafs with us!

And that tropical banana bread sounds awesome!

Christine said...

I love the mini loaf pans! Definitely putting those on my wish list. Great job!

Engineer Baker said...

Super moist sounds like a wonderful thing to me! And that tropical banana bread sounds fantastic. Recipe anytime?

Di said...

Something else for me to add to my wish list--a mini loaf pan! Not that I have room for it... Nice job on this week's recipe!

Rebecca of "Ezra Pound Cake" said...

Oh, the buttermilk substitution makes total sense. And the tropical banana bread sounds delicious. Mmmmmm.

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